Shagun Butani is an acclaimed exponent of Orissi and Seraikella Chhau. She has performed, lectured and conducted workshops across India and the world.
Credited to be one of the few women performers of Seraikella Chhau in India, she was a part of the core team that prepared the dossier on Chhau for the Government of India. This presented to UNESCO for its inscription as one of the elements that represent the world's intangible cultural heritage.
She is the founder of Sudhaaya Dance Foundation, a non-profit organization that takes forward her passion to share the beauty of arts in tradition. Through the work done by the foundation she leads a group of committed people, both adults and children, to connect audiences to a shared heritage and to highlight the relevance of traditional art forms in our living culture.
Multi-Faceted, she has written scripts for films on dance (Chhau Dance and Lai Haroba, both produced by Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi). Organized by different forums, her lectures introduce people from varied backgrounds to the significance of India’s performing traditions. Her numerous lectures and demonstrations at the National Museum, New Delhi have highlighted for visitors, the relevant symbolisms and interconnectedness of the arts. For the last two years Shagun has been researching secular feminine motifs in both sculptural and dance traditions of India.
A firm believer in the path of Yoga, she has been a dedicated practitioner for the last three decades. She is a Yoga instructor qualified by the Ministry of Ayush, Government of India and has trained at the Bharat Yoga Vidya Kendra in Madanapalle, India.
An impassioned teacher, she has initiated many into the profound beauty of Odissi and Chhau. She continues to teach students while strengthening her own practice, that aspires to delve deeper in her understanding of the body, to find its spiritual source that must underline the power to express.